dagblog - Comments for "The Third Party Challenge"

I was looking at the

CaliforniaPaige — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:40:14 +0000

I was looking at the state-by-state election polling from der Spiegel the other day, and I coun't help but notice that the green party membership has spiked most dramatically in Baden-Würtemburg and the some of our neighbors. I suspect that at least some of the rise is due to publicity from the Greens' opposition to Stuttgart21, which is constantly in the news here.

Germany's Green Party is

eurogirl — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:58:39 +0000

In reply to The Third Party Challenge

Germany's Green Party is experiencing an unprecedented rise in public opinion polls. But why? German commentators say that disgust with other parties is on the rise -- and the Greens have profited by moving to the center.

The World from Berlin: 'Green Party Issues Have Gone Mainstream' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

It's very odd to me that

DF — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:41:21 +0000

In reply to The Third Party Challenge

It's very odd to me that third parties still get so much attention. The findings of political science over the last several decades have been pretty solid in understanding that the electoral system is the overriding factor in how many parties emerge. Political scientists call it Duverger's Law, but it's really more like an overwhelmingly strong tendency because a few exceptions do exist.

Overall though, single-member districts with a plurality rule yield two dominant parties. If you think about it, it's not hard to see why. If the rule is that someone has to get 50%+1, then there will only ever be two coalitions that can mathematically get within striking distance of a win. You just can't have three near-half coalitions.

I think Bill Domhoff's essay on this topic is germane. As much as we might take issue with many aspects of the contemporary Democratic party, it's the best tool we have by virtue of being the only tool we have. That's frustrating, but it is, as they say, what it is.

I said:I'd encourage

Austin Train — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:48:37 +0000

In reply to If Bloomberg does run it'll

I said:

I'd encourage disenchanted Republicans to begin a third-party crusade posthaste, Democrats, not so much.

Then you:

And I think it'll be up to us to try to convince others that Bloomberg is more a Republican than anything. Let him split their vote, not ours.

We do appear to be at least close to, if not exactly on the same page here.

If Bloomberg does run it'll

Michael Maiello — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:39:43 +0000

In reply to Third parties that try to

If Bloomberg does run it'll be less about building any party than about one man's quest. And I think it'll be up to us to try to convince others that Bloomberg is more a Republican than anything. Let him split their vote, not ours.

Third parties that try to

Austin Train — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:28:01 +0000

In reply to The Third Party Challenge

Third parties that try to begin at the top, be it a mayoral, gubernatorial, or presidential election, are a completely asinine notion.

Do you begin building your house from the roof-peak down?

Did they start the Empire State Building with the mast?

Can a ship be built from the crows-nest down?

Unlike many who will read this, I have lived in a state with a third-party governor. The Legislature was divided, one chamber to each major.

The result was grotesque and incredibly damaging. Triangulation was finally revealed as the recipe for paralytic political chaos it always has been.

The last genuine good a third-party candidate did at the national level was Ross Perot preventing Bush the Elder from being reelected in 1992.

Sure, a protest vote feels good, like the rush from a super-sized hot fudge sundae on an empty stomach. Then, though, comes the crash. It can be the degenerative stasis that Jesse Ventura spawned in Minnesota, or it can be the very real strong probability that Ralph Nader gave us Bush the Younger.

I'd encourage disenchanted Republicans to begin a third-party crusade posthaste, Democrats, not so much.

Did I mention it's a bad idea if you like winning elections?